Arklow Fishermen

Asenath Nicholson

Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger

1847

Chapter III (8) | Start of Chapter

When we left the tower, we visited the fishermen's settlement on the sea-shore. This consists of perhaps three hundred huts of a squalid appearance outside; but on entering one of them, we were happily disappointed, for we had a cordial welcome to a neatly whitewashed room; the cupboards in the kitchen and little parlor were neatly arranged, and the bed neatly curtained. This is quite common, even where the pig has a bed on a pile of straw in the corner.

Ireland’s Welome to the Stranger is one of the best accounts of Irish social conditions, customs, quirks and habits that you could wish for. The author, Mrs Asenath Nicholson, was an American widow who travelled extensively in Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine and meticulously observed the Irish peasantry at work and play, as well as noting their living conditions and diet. The book is also available from Kindle.

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An American widow’s account of her travels in Ireland in 1844–45 on the eve of the Great Famine:

Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger

Sailing from New York, she set out to determine the condition of the Irish poor and discover why so many were emigrating to her home country.

Mrs Nicholson’s recollections of her tour among the peasantry are still revealing and gripping today.

The author returned to Ireland in 1847–49 to help with famine relief and recorded those experiences in the rather harrowing: Annals of the Famine in Ireland.

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